7 February 2012
- Russian FM visits Damascus as the US closes its embassy there
- New Opposition Military Council announced as violence is renewed in Homs, Zabadani and Idleb
| July 2009 - News |
| July 2009 |
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Syria names former army chief new defence minister Syria named former Army Chief of Staff Ali Habib Mahmoud as its new defence minister, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported on June 3. Mahmoud’s appointment, the latest in a government reshuffle, came about following a decree issued by President Bashar al-Assad. Mahmoud replaced Hassan Ali Turkmani who was appointed assistant vice president. Turkmani, 74, had held the post of defence minister since November 2004. Mahmoud was born in Tartous in 1939. He joined the army in 1959 and graduated from Syria’s Military Academy in 1962. In 1994 he was appointed commander of the Special Forces. In 2002 he assumed the position of deputy chief of staff of the army before becoming chief of staff in 2004. This latest cabinet reshuffle is Assad’s second in two months and the seventh since Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri’s government was formed in 2003. In April, Assad appointed six new ministers, among them a new interior minister and justice minister. The shake-up also saw the creation of a separate environment ministry. |
7 February 2012
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